Bale rasp



' Aug. 27, 1963 Filed April 2l.. 1961 R.' wlLDBoLz BALE RASP 7 INVENToR. PUDOLF W/L DBOLZ.

AT'URNEK United States Patent Office 3,101,513 Patented Aug. 27, 1963 3,101,513 BALE RASP Rudolf Wildholz, Winterthur, Switzerland, assigner to Rieter Machine Works Ltd., Winterthur, Switzerland,

a corporation of Switzerland Filed Apr. 21, 1961, Ser. No. 104,724 Claims priority, application Switzerland Apr. 29, 1960 3 Claims. (Cl. 19-80) The present invention relates to a bale rasp tor mechanically opening pres-sed -tibre bales, particularly cotton bales.

Convention-al bale rasps are unsatisfactory because they work in -a very limited area on the bales which are guided along a bar grate; this is particularly Ithe case if thin sawtooth discs are used .as rasping elements.

It is an .object of the present invention to provide a bale rasp which is more satisfactory than Ilthe conventional rasps because lit works `on 'a much greater area of the bale `surface than the conventional bale rasp-s. This object is achieved by mounting a plurality of saw-tooth discs in spaced relation and in slanted position, i.e. at an .angle other than 90, `on -a rotatable shaft for rotation therewith, the -disos extending between and beyond spaced parallel bars of 1a lgrate which supports the bale, the spacing of the bars and the angle of :slant of the discs being lsuch as topermit tree rotation `of the discs within the spaces :between said bars.

The novel features which are considered characteristic of the invention :are set lforth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, and additional objects and .advantages thereof will best be understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof Iwhen read in connection fwith the aoco panying drawing wherein:

PIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a balerasp according to the invention.

FIG, 2 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the bale rrasp shown in FIG. l, the section being made along line lI-II of FIG. l.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, numeral l designates :a base supporting a trarne 2 which is provided with bearings 3 for rotatably Isupporting a shaft 4. The latter carries a plurality of sawatooth discs 6 spaced by spacers 5, the spacers and .the `discs :being pressed to- `gether by bolts 7. The end suriaces of the tubular spacers '5 are slanted to bold the discs 6 in parallel relation 'and in a slanted posit-ion, Le., at an :angle o: with respect to the normal to the longitudinal laxis of the shaft. The trame 2 supports parallel, spaced grate bars 8 extending between the discs i6, the spacing depending on the angle a and the diameter of the dises. The upper edges of the bar-s 8 are slightly lower than the periphery of the 'discs 6. A belt pulley 9 is mounted on one end of the sharft 4 and is driven through a belt 10 by :a motor 1l. A funnel 13 connected toa suction-producing device, not shown, is mounted to the base 1 below the discs 6.

The aforedescribed bale rasp operates as follows: A cotton bale 14 is pushed on .and longitudinally of the bans 8 either by hand or mechanical-ly by means not shown to Contact the sawdeeth extending upwardly beyond the bars 8 tor tearing tufts out of .the bale. Due to the slanted position of the sawdooth discs the periphery lof the latter wobbles between the positions shown in dash-dot lines .and in sol-id lines FIG. l, ie., almost in the entire space between the bars y8. The slowly advanced bales are therefore worked in the entire zone between the bars and pro-duction is considerably increased over that obtainable with a rasp whe-rein the saw-tooth discs .are mounted normal to the shaft.

I claim: I

1. A bale ra-sp lfor mechanically Iopening compressed libre bales, comprising a grate having parallel spaced bars, a rotatable shaft ydispos-ed below said .grate bars, and a plurality of saw-tooth discs mounted in slanted position on said sha-lit for rotation therewith, the peripheral portion of said ydiscs extending between and beyond said bars during an entire revolution of said shaft.

2. A bale rasp for mechanically opening compressed iibre bales, comprising :a grate having parallel, spaced bars, a rotatable shaft disposed below and in parallel relation to said grate and at a right angle to said bars, and a plurality of sawatooth discs mounted in slanted position on said shaft Ifor rotation therewith, each of said discs having a peripheral portion extending through one of the spaces between said bars and beyond said bars dur-ing an entire revolution of said shaft.

3. A bale rasp tor mechanically opening compressed ibre bales, comprising :a grate :having parallel, spaced bars, Ia rotatable shaft disposed below and in parallel relation to said grate land at a right angle to said bars, and a plurality of saw-tooth idiscs mounted in slanted position on said shaft for rotation therewith, each of said discs having a peripheral portion extending through one of the spaces between said bars and beyond said bars, and the relation between the spacing between the grate bars and the angle of slant of said ydiscs affording free rotation of said discs.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A BALE RASP FOR MECHANICALLY OPENING COMPRESSED FIBRE BALES, COMPRISING A GRATE HAVING PARALLEL SPACED BARS, A ROTATABLE SHAFT DISPOSED BELOW SAID GRATE BARS, AND A PLURALITY OF SAW-TOOTH DISCS MOUNTED IN SLANTED POSITION ON SAID SHAFT FOR ROTATION THEREWITH, THE PERIPHERAL POR- 